01
Sample
Picker · Add/Subtract · Stroke
Tell the keyer which colours belong to the sampled range.
Resolve FX · Key
3D Keyer
Resolve FX Key for fast colour-based isolation and chroma-key work. You sample the image directly with strokes, choose a colour-space/behaviour model, refine the chroma and luma selection, clean the alpha with Matte Finesse, constrain it with a Garbage Matte, suppress spill and inspect the result through dedicated alpha outputs.
YUV · HSL · HSP · LabSoft · Flat · Tight · LumaChroma + LumaMatte FinesseGarbage Matte3 Output Modes
Mental model
Five stages: sample → model → range → matte → composite
Most failed keys come from asking a later stage to compensate for an earlier mistake. A bad sample should be fixed in sampling, a bad colour separation in Behaviour/Key Adjustments, dirty alpha in Matte Finesse, unwanted set areas in Garbage Matte, and spill only after alpha is stable.
02
Behaviour
Color Space · Soft/Flat/Tight/Luma
Choose the representation and behaviour that separates screen from subject best.
03
Range
Chroma · Luma · Tilt/Shift/Rotate
Fine-tune what enters the key without destroying useful edge information.
04
Matte
Clean · Clip · Blur · In/Out
Clean the alpha only after the selection itself is already sensible.
05
Composite
Garbage Matte · Despill · Output
Constrain the frame, remove spill and validate the final edge.
Selection + Behaviour Options
Start by making the keyer's colour model work for you
Sampling, Invert, Stroke management, Color Space, behaviour preset and Despill are the foundation. If these are wrong, later cleanup gets destructive very quickly.
Sample the range directly in the Viewer
Selection strokes
The top 3D Keyer tools build the range from colours sampled by strokes directly in the Viewer. The main picker gathers samples, while the adjacent add/subtract tools expand or exclude problematic areas. This matters more than later sliders: a poor initial sample forces Matte Finesse to repair the wrong matte.
- Sample genuinely different brightness/saturation regions of the screen
- Do not let a sampling stroke cross hair, skin or subject detail
- Build a good sample first, then touch Chroma Tolerance
Reverse the matte logicOn
Invert
Invert swaps the selected and unselected sides of the key. It is enabled in the supplied panel. This is not an edge-cleanup control: when the alpha is simply oriented the wrong way, Invert fixes the logic without destroying tolerance or softness settings.
- Verify the result in Alpha Highlight B/W
- Invert does not replace a Garbage Matte
- If black and white have swapped roles, check Invert first
Sampling history and resetStroke: –
Stroke · Delete Stroke · Reset
Stroke lets you select an existing sampling stroke. Delete Stroke removes the current stroke, while Reset returns the keyer to its initial state. This is safer than compensating for a bad sample with extreme Chroma/Luma adjustments.
- Delete one bad stroke instead of resetting when the rest of the sampling is useful
- After changing Color Space, rebuild the sample rather than trusting the old one
- Reset is the cleanest way to compare two approaches without accumulated tweaks
Colour space used for key analysisYUV
Color Space
3D Keyer exposes YUV, HSL, HSP and Lab. YUV is selected in the screenshot and is the usual starting point. If subject and screen separate poorly in one colour representation, another Color Space can give a more useful selection geometry. After switching, do not judge the result from old strokes—rebuild the sample.
- YUV is the default starting point
- HSL/HSP are worth testing when hue/saturation separate the subject more cleanly
- Lab can behave differently on difficult, non-uniform colour separation
Behaviour presetFlat
Soft · Flat · Tight · Luma
The four modes determine how strictly 3D Keyer interprets sampled colours. Soft gives a gentler falloff and is more forgiving of Chroma/Luma variation; Flat is the default green/blue-screen mode, fully keying sampled colours while allowing small nearby variations; Tight targets essentially the exact picked colour without automatic range softening; Luma behaves like Tight but ignores chroma and keys from luminance. Flat is active in the supplied panel.
- Shown: Flat
- Soft gives a gentler falloff across colour and luminance variation
- Tight stays close to the exact sample; Luma ignores chroma and uses brightness
Screen-spill suppression0.000
Despill
Despill suppresses unwanted screen colour on subject edges, skin, hair and reflective materials. The screenshot shows 0.000, so no additional suppression is applied. Raise Despill after the matte itself is stable; otherwise a desaturated edge can be mistaken for a clean key.
- Fix alpha first, despill second
- Watch skin tones and neutral fabrics
- Excessive Despill creates grey or dirty edges
Usage Options
Diagnostic controls: see how the key was built before you change it
These controls are mostly about inspection and sampling visibility. They do not replace Output modes; use both layers of diagnostics when troubleshooting a difficult matte.
Show sampling pathsOff
Show Paths
Displays the lines/strokes used to sample the key in the Viewer. This is a diagnostic overlay; enabling it should not itself change the matte.
- Useful when looking for an accidental stroke across the subject
- Off in the supplied panel
Context-aware path displayOn
Smart Show Paths
With Smart Show Paths enabled, a sampling line is visible only while you draw it and disappears when the mouse button is released. This is cleaner than permanent Show Paths when you want feedback during sampling without leaving strokes over the Viewer. Smart Show Paths is enabled in the supplied panel.
- Useful when repeatedly adding and subtracting samples
- Do not confuse it with Show Key Map
Automatic B/W alpha inspectionOn
Auto B/W Highlight
While you draw a sampling stroke, Auto B/W Highlight automatically switches the Viewer into Highlight B/W so the new sample can be judged in real time; when the mouse button is released, the Viewer returns to its previous mode. White/black represent opaque/transparent matte regions, while grey values reveal partial transparency and edge transitions.
- Enabled in the supplied panel
- The B/W matte reveals holes and contamination faster than the beauty image
Selection map and zoomOff · 0.500
Show Key Map · Key Map Zoom
Show Key Map displays a Viewer map made of the Color Space box plus the Brightness Range, with sampled colours plotted inside the colour region and brightness bar. Key Map Zoom magnifies that diagnostic map for closer inspection. In the supplied panel Show Key Map is off and Zoom is 0.500; it does not scale the image or the matte.
- Use it to understand what actually entered the chroma selection
- Zoom does not fix the key; it only helps inspect it
Key Adjustments
Refine chroma geometry first, then add luminance limits only where they help
The supplied Resolve 21 panel exposes ten key-adjustment decisions. Treat Tolerance/Softness as primary controls, Tilt/Shift/Rotate as fine geometry, and Luma Low/High plus their softness as an additional constraint—not as a replacement for colour sampling.
Width of the chroma tolerance0.0
Chroma Tolerance
Widens or narrows the chroma range around the sampled colours. Increase it in small steps: too much tolerance starts to capture clothing, skin and other colours close to the screen.
- Sample first, tolerance second
- Judge it in Alpha Highlight B/W
Softness of the chroma boundary25.0
Chroma Softness
Softens the transition around the selected chroma boundary. The supplied value is 25.0. Too little can create a hard stair-stepped edge; too much can make subject edges unnecessarily transparent.
- Judge hair and motion blur separately from solid subject regions
- Does not replace Matte Finesse
Adaptive chroma softnessOn
Adaptive Chroma Softness
Lets the keyer keep Chroma Softness more consistent across highly saturated and desaturated regions at the same time. It is enabled in the supplied panel and is normally left on. If manual Chroma Softness lacks useful range in Soft/Flat, disabling it can help; in Tight and Luma it is automatically disabled because adaptive softness conflicts with those modes.
- Compare On/Off on fine edges
- If adaptation weakens important detail, disable it and tune manually
Orient the chroma selection0.000
Chroma Tilt
Moves the selected chroma region vertically inside the Color Space representation. This lets you reposition the existing region toward the actual colour cluster without widening the entire Tolerance. The supplied value is 0.000.
- Do not adjust it blindly without Key Map/B/W inspection
- Small changes are more useful than extreme values
Shift the chroma selection0.000
Chroma Shift
Moves the selected chroma region horizontally inside the Color Space representation. Unlike Tolerance, Shift repositions the region rather than widening it. The supplied value is 0.000, the neutral position.
- Neutral in the screenshot: 0.000
- If a large Shift is required, revisit the sample first
Rotate the chroma selection0.0
Chroma Rotate
Rotates the selected chroma region around the Color Space origin, changing its position by colour angle. It is useful when the cluster needs to follow the actual tint/temperature distribution without simply widening Tolerance. The supplied value is 0.0.
- Use it after Tolerance/Softness, not before
- Judge the control from the matte rather than only the final composite
Constrain the key by luminance0.000 · 0.000
Luma Low · Luma High
Luma Low expands or contracts the dark side of the key in the Brightness Range, while Luma High does the same for the bright side. They add a luminance constraint to the sampled chroma range and help when subject and screen are colour-similar but brightness-separable. Avoid cutting natural shadows, highlights and transparency from the subject.
- Low addresses the lower luminance boundary
- High addresses the upper boundary
- Check motion blur and hair carefully
Feather the luminance boundaries0.200 · 0.200
Low Softness · High Softness
Softens the transition around Luma Low and Luma High. Both values are 0.200 in the supplied panel. This prevents a hard matte step when a luma limit is useful but the subject contains natural brightness gradients.
- Too little creates a hard threshold
- Too much makes the luma limit influence a wider range than intended
Matte Finesse
Two banks: clean density first, reshape alpha only when necessary
Bank 1 handles pre-filtering, black/white cleanup, clipping, blur and edge bias. Bank 2 adds morphological Shrink/Grow/Opening/Closing with Shape, Radius and Iterations. This is where a technically correct selection becomes a production matte—but aggressive settings can destroy hair, motion blur and transparency very quickly.
Two banks of matte controls1
Matte Finesse · Bank 1 / 2
Buttons 1 and 2 switch between two Matte Finesse control banks. The supplied screenshot shows Bank 1 with Pre Filter, Clean Black/White, Black/White Clip, Blur Radius and In/Out Ratio. Bank 2 is for morphological matte shaping: Shrink/Grow/Opening/Closing with Shape, Radius and Iterations. These are two pages of different cleanup tools, not two result presets.
- Bank 1 — noise/density/clip/blur and edge bias
- Bank 2 — morphology: Operation · Shape · Radius · Iterations
Second page not opened in the supplied capture
Bank 2 · Operation · Shape · Radius · Iterations
In Bank 2, Operation selects Shrink, Grow, Opening or Closing. Shape chooses the operation geometry—Circle, Square or Diamond; Radius sets the amount of shrink/grow/open/close, while Iterations repeats the operation for a stronger result. These are powerful alpha-shaping tools, so use them only after the key itself is sound and watch hair, holes and fine detail.
- Shrink/Grow contract or expand matte edges
- Opening/Closing help clean small protrusions or holes
- Large Radius/Iterations values can reshape the edge quickly
Pre-filter the matte0.200
Pre Filter
Pre-filters the image before colour sampling/key calculation and can stabilise difficult source material such as compression/MPEG blocking or fine chroma chatter. The supplied value is 0.200. This is not general image denoising: too much Pre Filter can erase fine hair and real edge texture before the keyer evaluates it.
- Pre Filter acts before Clean/Clip decisions
- Do not treat it as general image denoising
Clean the black matte region0.0
Clean Black
Removes grey contamination from the black part of the matte where the background should be fully transparent. It is often a better first cleanup step than immediately pushing Black Clip. Too much can damage semi-transparent edges.
- Look for grey islands in the background
- Inspect hair and motion blur separately
Strengthen the white subject region0.0
Clean White
Strengthens grey or weak areas inside the subject where alpha should be closer to solid white. It can repair holes in clothing/body regions, but too much turns naturally translucent detail into a plastic cutout.
- Fixes internal matte density, not edge geometry
- Do not force fine hair into solid white
Hard lower alpha clipping0.0
Black Clip
Clips the dark side of the matte more aggressively than Clean Black. It is a powerful final cleanup tool, but it quickly destroys soft transitions. If you need a large Black Clip change, revisit sampling and Chroma Adjustments first.
- Use after Clean Black
- Check fringe against a contrasting replacement background
Hard upper alpha clipping100.0
White Clip
Defines the upper clipping point of the white side of the matte. The supplied panel shows White Clip = 100.0. Changing it can consolidate or release the high-alpha region, but aggressive clipping easily damages transparency and fine detail.
- Inspect subject interior density
- Do not use it to compensate for poor sampling
Blur the finished matte0.0
Blur Radius
Blurs alpha after the main keying/cleanup stage. It can soften an overly digital edge, but excessive blur creates halos, removes detail and makes the subject look softer than the background. The shown 0.0 is a good neutral start.
- Use the minimum necessary value
- Judge the edge against the real replacement background
Bias edge treatment inward/outward0.0
In/Out Ratio
Controls where edge treatment is biased relative to the matte boundary. At 0, Blur Radius is distributed equally inside and outside; negative values bias treatment inward, positive values outward. It can also help even with Blur Radius at 0: negative bias can suppress small white specks, while positive bias can fill small black holes. The supplied value is 0.0.
- Use after the main matte is stable
- Compare against both dark and bright replacement backgrounds
Garbage Matte + Output
Constrain what the keyer has to solve—and inspect alpha separately from the beauty image
Garbage Matte · Matte Shape
Matte Shape offers None, Rectangle and Ellipse. Use Rectangle/Ellipse to crop away lighting stands, boom mics, tracking markers or screen edges that should never enter the key. When a shape is enabled, Open FX Overlay exposes on-screen controls for its position and size. It is a fast coarse constraint, not a replacement for a tracked complex roto mask.
Output
Alpha Highlight
Shows the transparent side of alpha as grey while the solid side remains in full colour. Useful for spotting residual screen colour around edges without losing image context.
Alpha Highlight B/W
Displays the alpha channel itself in black and white. This is the clearest mode for additional sampling and for finding grey contamination, holes and unwanted transparency.
Final Composite
Shows the keyed clip composited over the video track below it. Return here after alpha diagnostics to judge edge colour, despill and whether the subject actually integrates with the replacement background.
Real Resolve 21 controls
All supplied 3D Keyer panels and dropdown states
Production workflow
Six steps to a stable key without destructive cleanup
01
Make several clean sample strokes across the screen without touching the subject. If one stroke is bad, Delete Stroke is better than compensating with ten sliders.
02
Start with YUV + Flat. If separation is weak, Reset, change Color Space or the behaviour preset, and rebuild the sample cleanly.
03
Use Alpha Highlight B/W or Show Key Map. Tuning a key from the beauty image is far less reliable than tuning from alpha.
04
Refine Chroma Tolerance/Softness, then use Tilt/Shift/Rotate and Luma Low/High with separate softness only when necessary.
05
Matte Finesse: Pre Filter → Clean Black/White → Clip → minimal Blur/In-Out. Start with gentle cleanup and leave hard operations until the end.
06
Constrain irrelevant areas with Garbage Matte, then add Despill and return Output to Final Composite. Finally inspect hair, motion blur, transparency and edge colour against the actual background.
Common failures
A clean key is not the same thing as a perfectly binary matte
01
The key looks clean, but hair has disappeared
Cause: Tolerance/Clip/Clean controls were pushed for a perfectly binary matte and destroyed natural transparency.
Fix: Allow some grey in fine edges: reduce hard clipping, compare Soft/Flat and Chroma Softness, then judge against the replacement background.
02
A green/blue fringe remains on the subject
Cause: Alpha is nearly correct but screen spill remains in RGB, or edge treatment is biased too far outward.
Fix: Do not keep widening tolerance. Stabilise the matte, then add careful Despill and, if needed, a small In/Out Ratio adjustment.
03
Grey clouds remain in the background matte
Cause: Uneven screen, noise or a sampled/chroma range that is too narrow.
Fix: Add clean samples in the problem areas, then adjust Chroma Tolerance; use Pre Filter/Clean Black for residual contamination rather than as a substitute for sampling.
04
The subject develops holes together with the screen
Cause: Subject colour is close to the screen and global Chroma Tolerance has become too broad.
Fix: Try another Color Space/behaviour preset, a targeted subtract stroke, Luma limits or a Garbage Matte instead of more tolerance.
05
Final Composite looks fine until a different background reveals a halo
Cause: The matte was judged only against the original/similar background; Blur Radius or spill hid the real edge problem.
Fix: Inspect alpha in B/W and composite it against at least one bright and one dark test background. Fix alpha before cosmetic despill/blur.
Resolve FX Key · sample-driven chroma key
3D Keyer: the signal-level model
3D Keyer is best understood as two different jobs in sequence: first build a sensible colour range, then turn that range into a production matte. Sampling strokes, Color Space and Key Adjustments decide what enters the selection; Matte Finesse cleans the resulting alpha. If those stages are confused, hard clipping can hide a poor key while destroying hair, motion blur and transparency.
Blackmagic describes 3D Keyer as a fast way to isolate a colour range by sampling directly in the Viewer. Internally the range lives in a multidimensional colour representation; the user controls it through strokes, Color Space and Chroma/Luma controls rather than a visible 3D plot. Output modes then let you inspect alpha separately before returning to Final Composite.
Do not chase an absolutely binary matte at any cost. Grey transitions in hair, glass, fabric and motion blur can be correct alpha information. Clean Black/White and clipping are useful for contamination and density, but if they must radically rescue the key, return to sampling, Color Space and Chroma Adjustments.
Use it when
- green/blue screen work with fast direct sampling in the Viewer
- colour keys where a few strokes quickly describe a non-uniform screen
- fast mattes with separate chroma/luma refinement and built-in despill
- alpha diagnosis through Alpha Highlight, B/W and Key Map
Choose another tool when
- you need a primarily luminance-based key with little chroma relevance—consider a Luma/HSL keyer
- the screen is very difficult and requires deeper compositing control such as clean-plate/edge recovery—Fusion Delta/Ultra Keyer may be more appropriate
- you need a complex tracked garbage/holdout shape—use dedicated Windows/Polygon/roto masks
Control → signal meaning → verification
| Layer | What it means | How to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Sampling strokes / Invert / Stroke | Define the original colour samples and matte direction. Delete Stroke removes one bad sample; Reset returns the keyer to a clean state. | Use Show Paths and Alpha Highlight B/W to see where strokes were drawn and which side of the key they created. |
| Color Space · YUV / HSL / HSP / Lab | Changes the colour representation in which the sampled range is separated from other pixels. This can change separation behaviour substantially without changing the source image. | Reset, choose another space, rebuild the sample and compare the B/W matte with the same amount of downstream cleanup. |
| Soft / Flat / Tight / Luma · Despill | The behaviour preset defines the starting character of the key, while Despill suppresses reflected screen colour in the RGB result. They solve different problems. | Judge the preset from alpha; judge Despill from skin/edge colour against the real replacement background. |
| Chroma Tolerance / Softness / Adaptive | Tolerance expands/contracts the chroma range, Softness controls the hardness of its boundary, while Adaptive Chroma Softness helps keep behaviour consistent between saturated and desaturated regions; it is automatically disabled in Tight/Luma. | Find the point where the screen is clean but the subject has not started developing holes. Inspect hair and motion blur separately. |
| Chroma Tilt / Shift / Rotate | Tilt moves the selection vertically in Color Space, Shift moves it horizontally, and Rotate turns it around the central origin. These are position/orientation controls, not three more forms of Tolerance. | Move them in small increments with Show Key Map/B&W preview. Large values often indicate that the screen should be resampled instead. |
| Luma Low / High + Low / High Softness | Add a luminance constraint on top of the chroma selection with independent feathering for each luma boundary. | Useful when hue is similar but luminance differs. Make sure natural subject shadows/highlights do not become transparent. |
| Matte Finesse · Bank 1 / 2 | Bank 1 contains Pre Filter, Clean Black/White, Black/White Clip, Blur Radius and In/Out Ratio. Bank 2 provides morphological Shrink/Grow/Opening/Closing operations, Circle/Square/Diamond Shape, Radius and Iterations for reshaping the already-created alpha. | Build a correct selection and gentle Bank 1 cleanup first. Use Bank 2 conservatively while watching hair, holes, motion blur and edge geometry. |
| Garbage Matte / Output | None/Rectangle/Ellipse provide a quick coarse work-area constraint; Output switches between Alpha Highlight, Alpha Highlight B/W and Final Composite. | Exclude irrelevant set areas before fine cleanup and switch repeatedly between B/W alpha and Final Composite. |
Production workflow
- 01Reset, start with YUV + Flat and draw several clean strokes only across the screen colour.
- 02Enable Alpha Highlight B/W or Show Key Map and verify that major subject areas have not entered the screen selection.
- 03Refine Chroma Tolerance/Softness; use Tilt/Shift/Rotate only when the basic range is insufficient.
- 04If needed, add Luma Low/High and their Softness to separate areas that are similar in colour but different in luminance.
- 05Clean the matte with Pre Filter and Clean Black/White. Reserve Clip, Blur/In-Out and Bank 2 Shrink/Grow/Opening/Closing for final edge shaping.
- 06Constrain irrelevant areas with Garbage Matte, tune Despill and return to Final Composite to inspect the edge against the real background.
Diagnostics: symptom → cause → fix
Grey contamination remains across the screen
Likely cause: Sampling is too narrow or the screen is uneven; Matte Finesse is being asked to compensate for an incomplete chroma selection.
Fix: Add clean samples or slightly widen Chroma Tolerance, then use Pre Filter/Clean Black only for the residue.
Hair and motion blur have become hard cutouts
Likely cause: Clean/Clip is too aggressive or chroma/luma softness is too low.
Fix: Reduce hard clipping, restore transition and judge against the final background instead of chasing a perfectly binary B/W matte.
A green fringe remains despite a clean alpha
Likely cause: The remaining problem is RGB spill rather than matte structure.
Fix: Do not widen the key further; apply careful Despill and, if needed, a small In/Out Ratio adjustment.
The key is stable in one frame but fails elsewhere
Likely cause: The strokes do not describe the full real screen range or lighting/white balance changes through the shot.
Fix: Inspect multiple time points, add representative samples and do not use clipping to hide a problem that changes over time.
Node placement
On the Color page, keep 3D Keyer on a dedicated node so bypass and key routing remain obvious. For a local grading key, downstream structure depends on Key Output/Outside Node. For transparency/compositing, verify alpha routing and the order of operations that must happen before versus after keying.
Scopes / validation
Waveform/Vectorscope/RGB Parade can explain screen-versus-subject differences in luminance/chroma, but key quality is ultimately evaluated in alpha itself. The primary validation is therefore Alpha Highlight B/W/Key Map plus the real composite. Scopes complement diagnosis but do not replace matte inspection.
Managed-pipeline warning
3D Keyer sampling depends on the signal state entering the node. A CST/DRT/LUT or strong upstream grade changes colour coordinates and can change separation. Fix placement before sampling and do not move an established key across major colour transforms without re-validation. For final compositing, also consider where despill happens relative to the output transform.
Do not confuse the roles
3D Keyer versus neighbouring Resolve FX
Color Space Transform
explicit conversion between colour-space/gamma descriptions, including tone/gamut mapping
Open guide
ACES Transform
node-level input/output through the standardised ACES transform set
Open guide
Chromatic Adaptation
conversion between white points / illuminants through a CAT model
Open guide
Color Compressor
compressing hue/saturation/luminance variation around a selected Target Color
Open guide
Color Stabilizer
temporal matching of unwanted brightness/white-balance drift around a chosen reference and analysis region
Open guide
Contrast Pop
selective increase or reduction of local contrast at a chosen structure scale and within a controlled tonal range
Open guide
DCTL
programmable host for custom transform code whose maths, UI and signal contract are defined by the selected DCTL/DCTLE
Open guide
Dehaze
depth-weighted reduction of smog/airlight/haze through a simulated depth matte and coupled colour/contrast correction
Open guide
Despill
suppression of reflected red/green/blue screen spill after the subject has already been isolated by key/matte/roto
Open guide
False Color
spatial display of exposure zones through camera-matched or creative false-colour mapping and a legend
Open guide
Gamut Limiter
final hard-clipping of chromaticities to a specified delivery/QC gamut boundary
Open guide
Gamut Mapping
tone/gamut remapping through luminance roll-off, saturation compression/clip and OOTF without a separate input/output colour-space conversion
Open guide
Invert Color
simple independent inversion of Red/Green/Blue/Alpha channels for creative and technical channel/key operations
Open guide
NVIDIA RTX Video HDR
AI-assisted SDR→HDR mapping with an explicit input/output signal contract, Middle Gray, target peak luminance and creative shaping
Open guide
Camera Shake
procedural Pan/Tilt/Rotation/Zoom motion with waveform, randomness, pauses and blanking handling
Open guide
ColorTone Diffuser
creative optical-look effect combining spatial diffusion, coloured Tone Lights, tonal protection, a falloff mask and a LUT-compatible subset
Open guide
Film Damage
procedural texture/look effect combining blur/colour drift, vignette, changing dirt and up to five scratches with motion/flicker
Open guide
Film Grain
procedural film-style texture with gauge presets, grain geometry, composite modes, tonal/RGB weighting and final mix
Open guide
Film Look Creator
integrated scene-referred film-emulation environment combining a baked-in Blackmagic film response, colour shaping, halation/bloom/grain/flicker/gate weave and a LUT-compatible subset
Open guide
Flicker Addition
dedicated temporal exposure modulation with tonal flicker modes, RGB selection, smoothness, randomness, pauses and a deterministic seed
Open guide
Halation
film-style highlight scatter using an isolation matte, chromatic dye-layer reflections, secondary glow and optional grain
Open guide
Split Tone
creative shadow/highlight colour separation through Natural/Strong/Custom modes, Pivot, Hue Angle, neutral protection and colour-space overrides
Open guide
Vignette
edge framing and visual-attention control through Basic/Advanced geometry, position, colour and compositing
Open guide
Color Generator
solid-colour generation for Layer Mixer, masks, fills and simple colour washes
Open guide
Color Palette
analytical extraction of dominant colours with shadow/midtone/highlight region breakdown
Open guide
Grid
procedural technical grid with line hierarchy and deep plane transforms
Open guide
Qualifier / Windows / Tracker
Compare a Resolve FX key with HSL/3D qualifiers and spatial masks on the Color page.
Related chapter
Key
Node Key Input/Output, Key Output Gain and alpha/key routing after matte creation.
Related chapter
Fusion DKeyer
Related compositing keyer and broader node-based workflow.
Related chapter
Despill
Dedicated Resolve FX for cases where alpha is already finished and screen-spill control should be separate.
Related chapter
Primary references used for this technical layer
Blackmagic Design · DaVinci Resolve 17 New Features Guide · 3D Keyer
Official description of the sample-driven 3D Keyer, Color Space, softness/despill and Show Paths, including the 3D range-selection model.Blackmagic Design · DaVinci Resolve 18 Editor's Guide · 3D Keyer FX
Official production example using Alpha Highlight and Matte Finesse: Pre Filter, Clean Black/White, Clip, Blur Radius and In/Out Ratio.VideoMontazher · Fusion DKeyer
Related node-based keyer with a closely matching set of key/matte diagnostics and compositing workflow guidance.
Official description of the sample-driven 3D Keyer, Color Space, softness/despill and Show Paths, including the 3D range-selection model.Blackmagic Design · DaVinci Resolve 18 Editor's Guide · 3D Keyer FX
Official production example using Alpha Highlight and Matte Finesse: Pre Filter, Clean Black/White, Clip, Blur Radius and In/Out Ratio.VideoMontazher · Fusion DKeyer
Related node-based keyer with a closely matching set of key/matte diagnostics and compositing workflow guidance.
Panel names are cross-checked against the Resolve 21 screenshots already shown on each page. Where Blackmagic does not publish proprietary implementation math, the article describes documented signal semantics and observable behaviour rather than inventing an algorithm.
FAQ
Practical 3D Keyer questions
Is 3D Keyer the same as the 3D Qualifier?
They are related in the idea of sampling colour in a multidimensional representation, but they are different tools and workflow contexts. Resolve FX 3D Keyer builds a key/matte inside the effect with its own Behaviour, Usage, Key Adjustments, Matte Finesse, Garbage Matte and Output controls. The Color-page 3D Qualifier is used as a node qualifier signal.
Should I tune from Final Composite or Alpha Highlight B/W?
Tune the key itself from Alpha Highlight B/W or Key Map because contamination, holes and transparency are immediately visible. Use Final Composite for the final judgement of edge integration, despill and realism on the actual background.
When should I switch from YUV to HSL/HSP/Lab?
When clean YUV sampling still cannot separate the subject and screen reliably. Reset, change Color Space and rebuild the sample; comparing spaces on top of accumulated adjustments is not meaningful.
Should Despill be raised immediately?
No. Build the correct alpha first. Despill corrects colour contamination but does not replace a clean matte. Otherwise a grey edge can look 'clean' simply because the screen colour has been desaturated.
Does the Rectangle/Ellipse Garbage Matte replace a Power Window or Polygon?
No. The built-in Garbage Matte is a quick coarse limiter. For complex shapes, tracking or roto, use a dedicated Window/Polygon/Fusion mask; Rectangle/Ellipse is ideal for quickly excluding irrelevant parts of the set.
Why not clean everything with Black Clip/White Clip?
Clipping quickly makes a matte binary and visually 'clean', but hair, motion blur, glass and semi-transparent detail pay the price. Fix sampling/chroma/luma first, use Clean Black/White next, and reserve clipping for the residue.
Next steps
3D Keyer belongs between colour selection, matte engineering and compositing
Previous FX
Grid
Return to the final documented Generate effect.
Qualifier
HSL/3D qualifiers, Windows and tracking for node-level secondary corrections.
Fusion DKeyer
Related node-based keying workflow in Fusion.
Next FX
Alpha Matte Shrink and Grow
Continue inside Resolve FX Key with dedicated matte morphology and alpha repair.
Resolve FX catalog
Resolve FX Key
3D Keyer now opens a Key section that already continues into Alpha Matte Shrink and Grow.
Resolve FX